Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Youth Voice Blog.
As a little introduction, I’m Megan Clarke, one of the Youth Voice Officers. I’m the newest member of the team, aged 23, and have been with the team since the start of February. I have a passion for media, specifically in film and music.
In this edition we will say a little more about who we are, what we do, a recap of the last few months and what we have planned next.
Who are we and what do we do?
Youth Voice is a team of individuals who listen to and amplify the views, wishes and feelings of the younger generation so that Dorset Council can work with them, to meet their needs. We organise and host events for children and young people of various age groups who want to get involved with their communities and make a change for the better. We find out what they think is important and make sure that decision makers hear it and act upon it. We try our absolute best to ensure that every voice is heard – but we know there are more young people to hear from.
It’s all about collaboration and co-production of solutions with children and young people. To achieve this, we work with many of our Council colleagues and our external partners to arrange events and activities, that are also really fun!
We currently host the Dorset Youth Council, Members of Youth Parliament, Care Leaver Forum, Children in Care Council and we are working on programs for Young Commissioners and Young Ambassadors.
What have we done?
In the last few weeks, we have been incredibly busy. From arranging and hosting events for Dorset Youth Council and Care Leavers, to announcing Dorset’s newest member of Youth Parliament.
In an event we held for Dorset Youth Council (DYC), the Youth Voice team gathered some incredibly valuable insights from those who attended surrounding various issues that young people face in Dorset, with travel and the lack of resources on important issues like diversity, equality and sexual harassment being some notable points raised. We stand alongside young people as they remain committed on their campaigns. Massive thanks to DYC for bringing them to our attention as always!
The Youth Voice Team helped to arrange a whole family event with Fostering and the Virtual School at SWRAC near Dorchester. The day was filled with a variety of activities, including pizza-making, kite-flying and meeting the assorted animals who live there. In addition to this we heard what children enjoyed the most about their carers and families. A fantastic if not chilly start to the spring season with an incredible turnout!
Last, but certainly not least, we welcomed a new member to Youth Parliament. After weeks of campaigning all around the county, the votes from participating schools were counted and Stanley was elected as the newest member of the Dorset Youth Parliament, with Sapphire and Kerim being elected as hard-working deputies. All three will have a VERY important part in representing what Youth Voice means and what we do in the future. Congratulations!
What’s Youth Voice doing next?
In just a few short weeks we’ll be hosting our second whole-family event for foster carers and their children, this time in the Easter holidays, so be sure to see how that went in the next edition of the Youth Voice Blog.
Thank you for reading this first edition. We will be sharing more news as the months go by, so be sure to keep an eye out for the next edition. You can get in touch with us by emailing youthvoice@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.
Follow our activities on social media: @YouthInDorset
Well done – this looks great